Jude Calvillo is a specialist in new media development and scholar of political communication. Through his six years in interactive marketing (all facets: management, strategy, design, development, optimization), he has developed brands, new media products, and cutting-edge interactive marketing campaigns for clients such as MedTronic, Kid Fuel, SAC Financial Marketing, QuantRx Biomedical, Insight Investments, Precision Pharmacy, TrueProtein, and numerous political candidates/entities. He has also written extensively on political communication and, while at UCLA, was a fully-sponsored researcher under the guidance of Tim Groeling (UCLA) and Matthew Baum (Harvard). His research interests center on mass action and communicating with fundamentalist audiences.

Prior to returning to Sovereign Market, Jude served as Account Executive at JCI PR/Communications, where he worked on public and private sector campaigns for Raytheon, PhRMA, The Mercury Free Partnership, Cornell's Johnson School of Management, Strook, Strook & Lavan, VeriTainer Nuclear Detection, and more.

Jude holds a B.A. (Magna Cum Laude + Honors Collegium) in International Relations from UCLA and a Certificate in Entertainment/Media Management from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is currently earning his Masters in Political Communication from The Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC and will begin writing on matters of political communication for Johns Hopkins SAIS's TransAtlantic Magazine in early 2010.

Latest Insight: >> The Difference Between My Twit-Facing and Interactive Marketing
Currently Reading: >> Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne)

Mark Calvillo is an elite technologist with over 12 years of experience in advanced software engineering, data architecture, and medical/military-class security. His accomplishments range from developing the Cox Communications PCS (aka Sprint PCS - Now "Sprint") customer service intranet at the age of 19 through developing some of the web's first impenetrable HIPAA-compliant medical services. As Chief Technology Officer, he oversees the planning, architecture, and development of technical solutions to our clients' most advanced needs.

Mark began his fascination with technology, specifically, software engineering, in the early 90s when he developed a revolutionary central intelligence system for Sprint PCS's West Coast customer service operations. This highly successful technology was soon replicated throughout Sprint's national network and inevitably became the foundation for customer service data centers throughout the world. He followed up this success at Insight Health Services, where, as Senior Software Engineer, he was one of the first to dive into the murky waters of HIPAA-compliance, employing everything from military-grade encryption and ID methods to bleeding-edge storage technologies in creating some of the most secure, innovative medical applications known to date.

Mark has since found his calling in the ever changing, hyper-competitive world of interactive marketing. In his years as Lead Developer at Convergence.Net, he built adaptive, intelligent, interactive solutions that would place companies such as Fox Entertainment, Billabong, Wild Rivers, and Mercedes Benz at the forefront of integrated marketing. He would later form his own consultancy, ideaSHIFT, LLC, to develop enterprise-level marketing and ecommerce solutions and would eventually advise his brother Jude in founding a strategic communications firm with technical abilities in a class of its own: Sovereign Market.

Mark is an avid sports car enthusiast, and when he's not hunched over his computer, you can usually find him at a race track or dealership near you.

Currently Reading: >> Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK

Christian Calvillo Pedroza is Sovereign Market's resident specialist of Latin American affairs. His professional experience spans years of public administration and political campaign strategy throughout Mexico, the gateway to Latin America. As such, Christian's insight, legal expertise, contacts, and cultural immersion grant us significant leverage in effectively planning and executing our clients' Latin American affairs.

Prior to joining our team, Christian served the citizens of Mexico in various high level capacities. For the past twelve years, he has moved up the ranks of the Instituto Electoral del Estado de Jalisco ("Electoral Institute for the State of Jalisco"), ultimately serving as District Electoral Commissioner. He has also held positions in the office of the Control Secretary for Aguascalientes and has served as electoral counsel (i.e. campaign strategist) for numerous local campaigns.

Christian holds a law degree from the University de Guadalajara (w/honors) and is a part-time professor of Roman Law and Legal Writing at the same institution. He is currently earning his MBA in Strategic Marketing from the Universidad Iberoamericana.

Currently Reading: >> Kellogg on Branding (Kellogg School of Management)

A veteran political strategist and social scientist of Latin American affairs, Francisco de Jesús Pérez's expertise has been forged over two decades of high-level immersion in Mexico's nuanced political system. His services have been enjoyed by a who's who of the country's political and industrial elite, and his acumen for deciphering the public's pulse has proven extraordinary. Francisco's coveted knowledge and relationships are central to our campaigns in Mexico and beyond.

Before providing strategic counsel to the likes of Roberto Madrazo (2006 PRI presidential candidate), Cuahutemoc Cárdenas (former governor of Michoacan; founder of PRD), and Luis Armando Reynoso (current governor of Aguascalientes), Francisco made a name for himself through rigorous policy analysis for the state of Aguascalientes, MX. After years of exemplery service, he was tapped by the national government's Secretary of Social Development (SEDESOL) to consult on social epistemology in that state and was later published in the Crónica Municipal ("Municipal Chronicle"), a public affairs journal, for his work in cultivating social memory. Numerous publishings and accolades later, prominent political and business leaders began to capitalize on Francisco's insights, and he's been neck deep in public affairs ever since.

Francisco holds a Bachelors in Linguistics from the Universidad Iberoamericana and a Masters in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota. He is also an accomplished painter, illustrator, and creative director, having provided these services to myriad commercial productions and Latino celebrities such as Plácido Domingo, Luis Miguel, Santiago Creel, and Elva Esther Gordillo.

Currently Reading: >> Viva la historieta: Mexican Comics, NAFTA, and the Politics of Globalization

Nardos Lemma, the newest member of our team, brings a wealth of communications theory and practice to the frontline of our clients' projects. What's more, with her intimate knowledge of African business and politics, she holds the potential to bridge our clients' ventures toward the plush promise of Africa. Nardos's aptitude, diligence, and efficiency have already made a significant impact on our projects worldwide, and we expect nothing short of greatness from every new project she embarks on.

Nardos began her communications journey as a Project Assistant at the highly influential Center for Constitutional Rights (NYC), where she helped their legal team develop the landmark case of habeas relief in Rasul v. Bush to the Supreme Court and to the public. Her nack for publicity, and sense of duty, then drew her back to Africa to consult ultranational NGO Oxfam on American media relations and public education in matters of fair trade coffee practices. She would later leverage her high-level expertise to become the Communications Officer of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX). Nardos's rich experiences in international relations, particularly African relations, make her perfectly suited to assist our multi-national clients achieve their communications goals.

Nardos received her B.A. (with honors) in Administration of Justice from Rutgers University in New Jersey and is currently earning her Masters in Communication from the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

Currently Reading: >> Africa Rising: How 900 Million African Consumers Offer More Than You Think